Kork's weapon arcs through the air to strike the creature. Through a strange alchemy known only to Kork, the spittle reacts with the living flame that passes for the creature's flesh, causing it to utter an unearthly shriek.
The flames begin to flicker and produce little belches of smoke, reflecting the significant damage wrought upon it.
"It's a scamp, guys! Heals with fire, but hates the cold, which it's about to get!" Jade strides ◆ to get into range, activates her kinetic aura ◆ and sends a jet of cold water ◇ toward the scamp.
The icy jet slices through the air, but Jade has misjudged her angle and the watery projectile passes under the fire scamp.
Okoteck strides up closer to the wagon and attempts to weave eldritch lightning between the scamp and its summoner. The energy bursts from the scamp, singing it, but the summoner is just slightly out of range, and the spell fails to reach him. The bolt arcs into the cobblestones and dissipates.
The child-sized elemental, seriously wounded, cranes its neck back in a silent intake of breath, then unleashes a belch of roaring flames onto the wagon. The blast of heat is over too quickly to ignite the hard wood of the wagon well or its contents, but the canvas covering catches fire, releasing clouds of sooty smoke. It won't be long before the fire spreads to the barrels inside.
The flying creature lands in the flames and roosts, and through the smoke you can make out its fiery form beginning to grow brighter again as it feeds on the heat.
The horse whinnies in panic and tries to run, straining against the reins, but the wheels are blocked with wooden stoppers intended to keep the wagon from rolling during loading and its efforts are in vain.
Jaym'row moves behind the barrels just west of her, readies her short bow, and hides behind the barrels, hoping to be able to fire at the fire critter when it is not expecting it.
Jaym'row darts across the street and crouches behind the barrels there, while Mirian grabs a large bucket out of the cart, runs across the square to the fountain and fills it with water.
"We don't have long! We have to get that fire out or the whole square is toast!" she yells.
Syper looks at the cart, at the wood blocks, at the panicking horse. He reaches a hand towards the horse, stops, and suddenly approaches the cart, shouting at it.
"That canvas, you gotta move it! Release the battens! Full sail!"
Syper's enchantment seizes control of the ropes, and the knots tying it to the front two fastenings come undone. The animated rope slinks through the gaps between the wooden spine and crossbeams, dragging the flaming canvas with it and dislodging the beast attempting to roost within.
The robed figure grunts in displeasure and takes a few steps up the stairway, weaving his hands in mystical gestures while chanting words of eldritch portent. As he completes the charm, a searing ball of flame materializes beside Okoteck and tries to bowl him over. The bird-man, fast as lightning, manages to avoid direct contact, but the scorching heat of the floating orb still singes him, and the acrid reek of charred feathers taints the air.
Okoteck winces at the burn, but presses on. Dodging around both the orb of flames and the burning canvas, he advances towards the robed figure while drawing his sword. When it's clear there's not room to get passed the fires, he caws a command and leaps forward. His form blurs through the air, and he lands next to the robed figure, blade already thrusting forward.
The tengu falls into a guard stance after his attack, a trickle of shadow flowing from his feathers and along his blade.
"Sorry Mirian, but I've got to put the fire out!" Jade creates another snowdrift ◆◆ to attempt to put out the flames (and hit the scamp). Mirian gets hit as well.
Then she unleashes an elemental blast at
Seeing the ball of fire appear, Kork looks at the robed figure and laughs in their face. "Ha! Missed!"
He pulls out a dagger and charges at the scamp creature to slash at it.
The blade, still affected by Kork's mysterious power, slices into the flames with the hissing and spitting of quenching metal. The scamp shrieks and dissipates like a candle in the wind.
Jade raises a hand and unleashes a small blizzard of snow onto the wagon, causing the flaming canvas to sputter and die. Kork, moving with whiplike speed, is able to escape most of the snow, taking only minimal damage. She then raises a hand and sends a bolt of lightning toward the robed figure, burning a hole in his tunic and causing him to grit his teeth and howl.
Okoteck leaps through the boundaries between worlds, teleporting directly to the spellslinger and striking out with his sword. It fails to connect, the robed figure ducking out of the way, but the magical energy Tomu unleashed wreathes his blade with an eerie aura, eager to strike again.
Jaym'row mews in frustration as the scamp is defeated before she can attack it with her bow. Anxious for revenge on the guy who blasted her with magic, she advances toward the wagon, ducks behind it for a moment, and then moves back out hoping the guy will let his guard down for a moment.
(Range 60 ft)
Jaym'rows shot goes wide, missing by a mile.
Mirian, seeing that the fire is out, pulls a flintlock pistol from her bandolier, aims, and fires. The bullet grazes the spellcaster, tearing through his robe at the shoulder and eliciting a grunt of pain.
Caster has 24 hp
Syper approaches the horse with a calming demeanor. "Okay, you're not done yet. He just tried to burn you, remember? Time to get back to him."
Was he even speaking to the horse? He was looking past the beast.
The rope snakes out and attempts to grab the robed figure. At the last second, he manages to twist out of the way.
He snaps his fingers and barks a word of protection, causing an ethereal bulwark of pure force to materialize beside him, floating in midair. He then stares at the sphere in concentration, causing it to speed through the air toward the wagon, attempting to bowl over Kork and Jaym'row along the way. Both of them manage to dodge direct hits, but the searing heat of the ball still singes them with its passing.
When it reaches the wagon, its attempts to light barrels on fire are stymied by the thick snow, which takes several seconds to melt and boil away, leaving the wood untouched... for now.
/ 2 = 3
/ 2 = 6
, 8 temp hp and hardness 5
Kork charges at the man. One hand on the dagger, the other shuffling throughout the insides of his cloak. At the same time, his mind is scrounging for anything he could exploit to take this man down as fast as possible.
"When all fail, Kork has old faithful." the goblin chuckles as he closes the distance. "DAGGER TO FACE!" he screams as he slices his weapon at the man's neck.
Torn between helping her injured ally and putting out the fire, Jade looks between them back and forth several times before reaching out with a hand and sending a spray of water from her aura to try and counteract the fiery sphere before it blows everything up.
Then she sends another blast of lightning ◆ from her aura towards the robed figure.
Okoteck slashes at the enemy spellcaster warily, somewhat distracted by the action around the barrel of volatile substance.
He circles around his target, his taloned feet tapping out an odd cadence on the stones of the street. "Did your employer not inform you of the blast radius? If you really succeeded at what you're trying to do, you would be dead as well as us," he states in an... oddly calm tone, for what he's saying.
The goblin thaumaturge's dagger slips past the floating disk of force and gouges a deep wound in the man's thigh. The dagger experiences a moment of unexplained resistance before striking home, indicating a protective enchantment beyond the disk--but not an insurmountable one.
Jade conjures a blast of icy water and fires it into the heart of the sphere. Charged with the elemental power of her inner planar conduit, it causes the sphere to flicker and die. She then sends a small bolt of lightning at the spellslinger, jolting him and leaving a charred hole in the front of his tunic.
Okoteck slashes at the man, but his strike goes wide. The mage laughs and spits, "My magic protects me, weakling!" The gouges and burns in his clothing attest to the limits of said protection.
Caster at 17hp.
"Your magic protects you?" Syper questions. "Funny thing, magic, it always seems to abandon you when you need it the most. You sure you still have it on you?"
He calls out again, a bit more forcefully, "You sure you still have it on you?" The words come out a bit melodic, as if to dance around, taunting the group's opponent.
Then he fires his bow.
You notice a faint, almost imperceptible red aura surrounding his body at a distance of roughly an inch from his flesh.
While you cannot precisely identify the effect at a glance, and obviously don't have the ten minutes required for a proper Identify Magic check, it is reasonable to conclude that it is some sort of protection against fire damage.
Syper's melody infuses him and his allies with vigor and competence. His shot misses wildly, however, striking the statue of the long-dead Cornyrian king, Herminn II, perched atop the nearby building.
Jaym'row pulls back the drawstring on her bow and fires. The arrow hurtles through the air, straight toward the black-robed figure. He raises a hand instinctively, and his protective shield of force interposes itself between him and danger. The force of the bowshot causes the shield to crack, splinter, and vanish as the protective spell collapses. Mirian, sensing an opening, grabs her other pistol from her bandolier, aims, and fires. The gun gives a sharp report, and the bullet catches him in the shoulder, tearing his tunic further and causing him to cry out in pain.
Outnumbered, severely injured, his servitor banished, and his most potent magics depleted, the mage curses his ill fortune. Beginning to panic, he turns and scrambles away, retrieving a silvery phial from his hip pocket as he hurries to gain distance. He downs its quicksilver contents and immediately vanishes into thin air, though the sound of his boots on the pavement continues its steadily fading beat. Droplets of blood shimmer into view on the cobblestones as the invisibility liquor's power grows too distant to conceal them.
Mirian retrieves her pistols and waves at the handcart. "We need to get the rest of these barrels onto the cart and get everything back to the ship immediately in case he returns with reinforcements."
With the sound of battle fading, you notice the faces of bystanders pressing against windows and peering out from behind columns and around corners. Most are silent, ducking back into the shadows upon noticing your gaze, save for Termas Sungden, who smiles and waves.
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Jade's eyes flash a bit greener than normal spotting the dropped gem, but sighs. The others are much closer to it. "Our new friend left us a present. It'd be rude not to pick it up--" then thinking it over a second "--though maybe check it first to make sure it's not cursed or anything?"
Jade glances at Jaym'row and does a double take, wincing as she can examine more closely Jaym'row's wounds now. She draws healing water from Yomul through her aura and salves Jaym'row's injuries.
"If anyone else has wounds, I can provide a bit of relief."
Jade will keep her aura active until we are safely back to the ship with our cargo.
"He clearly had not prepared sufficiently for shrapnel," Okoteck cannot help but comment as the enemy spellcaster escapes. He shakes his head and sheathes his sword.
The tengu bobs his head in agreement and thanks to Jade, though the healing does little for him. "I shall give it a quick examination, though our haste means I cannot spend much time on it."
He casts a detect magic spell to see if the cabochon is magical. Given the time constraints, he does not try to identify it at present even if it is enchanted, instead pulling a rag out of his bag and wrapping it in it, avoiding touching it with his hands as he puts it in his bag.
"Once we are aboard the ship I can examine it more closely," he says, before jogging over to help with loading the cart.
As the man runs past, Kork considers slicing him across the heels for good measure. "Nyeh..." he disregards it, notices the man fumbling a gem out of his pocket, but ignores it for now. Instead, he quickly scans the cobblestone. The trace of his gaze ends at Okoteck's feet. The goblin rolls his eyes and sighs in frustration.
Begrudgingly, though hastily, he moves to the barrels to speed up the loading process. "And... one! And... two! And... UP!" he adds some rhythm to the work as they lift the barrels onto the cart. Platfomr by platform, the barrels on the ground disappear. Satisfied with his job, Kork seems satisfied with the day.
He turns to the quartermaster. "Barrels seem dangerous to Kork. Sail out soon?"
"And speaking of dangerous..." he grins and turns to Okoteck. "...Kork think maybe fear bleach some feathers? Birdman surely want to keep visage of young, strapping plummage. Donate defects to Kork?" he tries to make puppy eyes at Okoteck.
If the pup had green skin, crooked teeth, no fur, and a head shaped like an egg on its side.
Okoteck croaks a laugh. "I'll probably be molting some scorched feathers soon, yes," he says to the goblins. "I'll make certain to save them for you, Kork."
Syper looks at the gem suspiciously, but lets others deal with it.
He had over to Mirian and assisted with the barrels, mentioning, "You'd think someone would be more interested in stealing this cargo than destroying it. I can think of plenty of places rum would fetch a penny."
He looked down the assailant's escape route, lifted his eyepatch, and winked, before putting the patch back in place.
With the party's help, the quartermaster finishes loading the cart and gives the order to fall out. At first the horse is too skittish to safely unlock the wheels, but when Mirian cuts away the canvas and throws it into an alleyway, thus banishing the smell of smoke, he calms down sufficiently to pull the cart.
You return to the caravel unmolested, though a few passersby gawk at your singed wagon well, and as you descend the stairs you can see the neighborhood watch assembling in the distance. As you pull up to the dock, you notice the captain conversing with a burly, well-dressed man holding a logbook and a quill pen.
"Harbormaster Krellin will be inspecting our shipping manifests and receipts," the quartermaster explains. "If we stop, we'll just look more suspicious. Be sure to think of something if he asks what happened. We didn't do anything illegal, but I don't want to get the constabulary involved."
As the wagon rounds the final bend and begins trundling onto the docks, you can finally make out the harbormaster's words.
"Your receipts are in order, your House's credit is good, and your signet ring matches our records. I think--by the gods, what happened here?"
He stares in bemusement at the deep scorch marks on the wagon.
Syper shrugs. "Pipeweed accident," he replies with a sheepish grin. "My tinder landed on the canvas. Last time I'll ever smoke and drive a cart at the same time."
vs. DC 16
He nods his head briefly in sympathy. "Mistakes happen. I'm sure you'll be more careful next time."
He turns back to Ferrino. "And there's your dozen barrels of Metello's best rum." He stamps the logbook and adds conversationally, "That Metello fellow knows quality like the back of his hand. He says he'll be expanding operations to the Free Isles by the end of the summer, and to Omrinth and Akarnennion by next spring; with such attention to detail and mind for business it's no surprise he's gotten so big."
Ferrino nods and replies curtly, "I'm sure he's a fine man. Now, if everything is in order, I'd like to get under sail before the wind changes."
He motions to the rest of the crew, and the loading of the barrels is the work of five minutes.
As the harbormaster steps off the boat and the gangway is raised, he turns and asks, "So what really happened?"
"An overconfident mage attacked. He clearly had knowledge of the true contents of the barrels, but not enough sense to think about shrapnel." Okoteck caws a laugh. "Fortunately we drove him off before he could introduce the entire square to his miscalculation. He left a souvenir, as well."
The tengu displays the small gem. "Enchanted, of course. I was planning on studying it aboard ship to make certain it's not some sort of ruse to plant a tracking charm with us."
The captain grows pensive.
"Assuming, of course, they haven't already planted a tracking charm on us back in Eredorn. The knowledge of our stopover in Jurgen's Fist was kept on a very tight leash; If we aren't being tracked by something planted on the ship, it's very, very concerning that they were able to find us, as it would imply betrayal or catastrophic security failure."
He points belowdecks and says to Okoteck,
"Be quick about your investigations; we'll soon be too far from shore for my elemental servitor to reach the local Dandolon offices with a report before expiring."
The crew hoists sail and begins the long journey to Thalis. Between Gideon's administrations and Jade's powers, the wounds of the encounter are quickly washed away.
After ten minutes of study in the navigator's chamber, you determine that the gem is one end of a pairstone. The owner of a pairstone can always take a Manipulate action to learn the general distance and direction to the other if they are on the same plane, and the exact distance and direction if they are within 100 yards. If they are on separate planes, it relates this fact, but not which plane (unless one succeeds on an Arcana or Occultism check to interpret the scrambled magical signals).
It tells nothing about the status of anyone carrying it; only the location of the stone. It also cannot locate any other stones beside the one linked to it at its creation, therefore if one end is destroyed the other becomes useless.
As you turn it over in your hands, it begins to glow, and a small arrow and a number, both composed of light, fade into view within the gem. If your mental map of the ship is correct, the other end of the pairstone is located right outside the fo'c'sle.
Kork ponders for a while, then looks at Ferrino. "Or Featherhat have snitch on ship. Kork not point fingers, just stating it be possible."
At Kork's suggestion, the captain's expression grows grimmer still. He nods wordlessly and awaits the tengu's report.
"Maybe, maybe not," Syper muses.
"If they know about the equipment, they'll know about the, uh, rum delivery. It makes more sense that if you don't know where the ship is, but that the delivery will go through Jurgen's Fist, you'll want to assault the delivery, even if you don't know the ship is there."
Pointing out the barrels, he finishes, "And they attacked the delivery. And they'd rather blow up a town square than someone else's ship at sea."
Okoteck whistles softly to himself as the pairstone activates, then stows the gem in his belt pouch. He walks up onto the deck and over to the railing, gazing out at the water, figuring that the captain will come over to him but not wanting to draw attention in case there is a traitor aboard rather than just a planted stone.
Ferrino strides over to the magus and leans in close.
"Maybe, maybe not," Syper muses.
"If they know about the equipment, they'll know about the, uh, rum delivery. It makes more sense that if you don't know where the ship is, but that the delivery will go through Jurgen's Fist, you'll want to assault the delivery, even if you don't know the ship is there."
Pointing out the barrels, he finishes, "And they attacked the delivery. And they'd rather blow up a town square than someone else's ship at sea."
"I agree with Syper. A traitor aboard would have given all the info on the ship. The sea is a fickle beast. If you know where a ship is at port and you're desperate enough to blow a whole city block to stop them, you go attack the ship in port while it's not moving. You don't trust that the ship will stay exactly on its plotted course, or that you'll be able to stay exactly on course to intercept them. The stories make it sound like ships come out of nowhere and the chase is over in a few minutes, but really, chases on the open ocean take days. Everybody's got to use the same winds. Plenty of time to get the, er, 'rum dispenser' ready to serve the enemy ship when it arrives. Even if they get really lucky with fog or can make a whole ship invisible for days at a time, they'd still be leaving a lot to chance they don't need to if they know where we're moored."
She glances uncertainly at the tengu who has the gemstone. "Unless he knows something he hasn't told us yet."
Making sure his body is blocking view of his actions from the rest of the deck, Okoteck removes the pairstone from his pouch.
"It is a tracking device... the other end of one. It indicates the direction and distance to a paired stone, which as you can see..."
"It is possible that the other half was brought aboard without the knowledge of any of the crew... but it seems more likely that one of the crew members is involved."
The captain grimaces, harder this time.
He looks around and motions Mirian and the other four party members to him.
"I trust Mirian with my life, and since she says the mage did his level best to kill you all, I doubt you're working with him. Luwana, Sebasthin, the cooper Agosti, and the blacksmith Hrolfsson have been with me for years and I believe them above suspicion. The rest, it would surprise me greatly if they were to turn traitor, but I cannot rule them out."
He thinks for a moment.
"Of course, if our adversaries have access to potions of invisibility, anyone could also have planted this tracker while most of the rest of the crew were off the ship, giving them adequate knowledge of our speed and heading to alert agents abroad to our approach and prepare an ambush."
He snaps his head around and glances at the grate covering the ladder belowdecks.
"Did any of the corpses we stripped have empty phials on them? If they did, they'll be in the pile of miscellaneous bric-a-brac next to the bilge. If there are any phials, perhaps Klotrich could test them to identify any residue that might be present."
He turns back to the party.
"And obviously we need to find the other end of the stone."
He leans in and glances at the device in Okoteck's cupped talon. "Unless I miss my guess, it's over there, in the box of spare coiled rope," he says, pointing.
"Question." Kork raises a finger. "Ship making other stops? If yes - who knows? Crew, suppliers?"
"If not - be non-issue, perhaps?"